I pulled up to the curb in front of my new apartment. I think I was more excited to get out of the moving truck that had almost broken down ten times since I got behind the wheel, than I was to finally be in London. After an eight hour flight, forty-five minute wait for the truck, two hour trip to the docks to pick up all of my things that had been shipped here, and another two hours for the employees to load my things onto the truck before returning the truck to me, then an hour drive to the apartment, all I wanted to do was collapse on the ground of my new home and wait until the next morning to move all of my crap up the three flights of stairs. Unfortunately for me, I had to return the truck by five.
I turned the truck off and got out. I grabbed my purse and computer bag, dug out the key to my new home, and after making sure I locked the truck, made my way into the building and started up the stairs.
It didn't take too long to get the small boxes and suitcases into the apartment. The majority of what was left to bring up was the furniture. Even though I only had to bring up a table, a futon, and some chairs, they were all in pretty bulky boxes and I was certain I would not be able to carry them up by myself.
I made my way back up the stairs and paused in front of the door directly across from mine. There was no way I would be able to get the boxes up by myself, and I didn't actually know anyone yet, so this was really my only option. I knocked on the door and stood back, hoping that someone was there.
I heard a couple of voices inside, and some movement before the door opened and I looked up at a guy who could not have been much older than me. He wore a shirt covered in kittens and UFO's.
"Hello." he said.
"Hi," I said, "so, I'm your new neighbor, and I'm moving in today and I was just wondering if you or someone you know could help me carry a few things up?"
"Oh yeah, sure. We can meet you downstairs in a couple minutes if you like."
"Thank you so much."
"Hey, it's not a problem. See you in a few."
I shot him a small smile and turned to make my way down the stairs. The guy who answered the door met me at the moving truck just a couple minutes later and brought with him another guy, about the same age, maybe a bit younger.
"Hi, I'm Dan," the new guy reached out his hand to me as he introduced himself.
"Emily," I said as I shook his hand.
The other guy, the one who answered the door was the next to stick out his hand, "Oh right, sorry, I'm Phil."
I shook his hand too and said thanks before directing them to the large boxes in the back of the truck. When they saw the box for the futon, Dan turned to me and asked if I had any suggestions on how to get it around the corners and with an innocent smile I responded, "Pivot."
Both Dan and Phil laughed at that and it didn't take long for us to start up a conversation about our favorite shows. I was surprised that the first people I met were both interested in the same shows that I was interested in. There were few people I knew, even back home that actually liked to watch Attack on Titan and Sword Art Online, and other similar shows.
I was definitely glad that the first people I met actually liked the things I liked, and it didn't hurt that they were cute too.
It only took about forty-five minutes to finish moving everything, and I thanked them before telling them I had to return the truck.
"Wait, how do you have a license if this is your first day?" Phil asked.
"I came out a couple weeks ago to sign for the apartment and stuff. I got it them cause I knew I would moving in by myself."
"They let you do that?"
"Well she is going to be living here, Phil," Dan spoke up. "Are you going to take the train back then?"
"I guess so. I mean, that would be cheaper than a taxi, right?"
"Yes, that would definitely be cheaper than a taxi," Dan said.
"We could go with you if you like," Phil spoke, "Can't have you getting murdered on your first night in London."
"Phil!" Dan looked shocked at what Phil had said, "Sorry about him, he says crap like that all the time. I'm sure you won't get murdered, but we could come with you if you would like."
Phil smiled and apologized.
"Sure, I don't think it could hurt too much to have a couple of tour guides."
"Great!" they said together.
I drove the truck back to the place I rented it from, getting some not so complimenting remarks on my driving from the guys. I was still getting used to the fact that I was not in America anymore. On our walk from the Truck rental place to the underground train, the conversation switched from my bad driving to why I had moved to London.
"So are you here for a job or school or what?" Dan asked.
"Well, you could say I moved here for my job."
"What do you do? Your like, nineteen," Phil said.
"I'm twenty-one thank you very much, and I'm an author."
"Published and everything?" Phil asked.
I chuckled, "Yeah, published and Everything. My publishers headquarters is actually in London. They are paying for my rent and all I have to do is meet with them once a week."
"So you actually have books out that I could buy at the store?" Phil asked.
"No Phil, you can't buy her books, they are only to look at," Dan spoke up.
"It's true. I get paid to just display my books. No one except for me has ever actually read any of them."
Phil looked down to the ground and pouted, Dan laughed and I said sorry.
It was easy being around them. They got my sense of humor and we had yet to run out of things to talk about. I was glad that they were my new neighbors. I had a feeling I would really enjoy being in London.
We got on the underground train just before rush hour, so there weren't many people out.
"So you know what I do for a living. What do you do?" I directed the question at both of them.
"We make YouTube video's," Phil said just as the doors closed and the train started moving.
"You can get paid to do that?"
"Well, that and we have a radio show that we do," Dan said.
"That's so cool. So you guys are like, internet famous then?"
"Yeah, I guess," Dan said looking like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Well, what I mean by that is you get recognized for your work. People can look at you and immediately know who you are and what you are from, assuming they are on the internet as much as they watch TV and movies," I said.
"What, you don't get recognized?" Dan asked.
"Not unless I'm doing a book signing or an interview, but I'm not jealous or anything. It's actually kind of really cool to see people reading my books or hear people talking about them."
"How often do you hear people talking about your books?"
"Surprisingly often. I'm glad that people actually want to read them."
"What's one of the books you've written?" Dan asked, looking genuinely interested in what I had to say.
"I wrote a book called The Invisible Man."
"Wait a minute," he said, straightening up, "The Invisible Man,by E. M. White?"
"The very one."
"I just finished that book yesterday," Dan smiled, "you're an amazing author."
I smiled back, "Thanks."
"This is our stop," Phil spoke, startling me. I had almost forgotten he was there.
"Hey," Dan said as we arrived to the front of the apartment building, "do you want to come over for dinner? We were just gonna order pizza tonight, if that's okay."
"Sure," I said, "I'd love to."
We spent the night talking and playing MarioKart. I ended up leaving around eleven because I had to meet with my publisher in the morning. I also had to wake up early to start unpacking.
Thankfully, when we had finished the pizza, the guys helped me set up the futon, considering my bed wouldn't arrive for about a week. I was hopeful that we would have a good relationship. They were great, funny, and I could see us being pretty great friends.